Three celeb-approved wedding looks - The Inside Pocket

Three celeb-approved wedding looks

Stylish groom and guest wear, this way.

THREE CELEB-APPROVED WEDDING LOOKS

STYLISH GROOM AND GUEST WEAR, THIS WAY

• WORDS: C. STEWART

It’s been a big year for weddings – and one in particular got the royal fanfare, so to speak. And while you may or may not have been interested in the all-day coverage (and mass internet hysteria) of Harry and Meghan’s big day, there’s no denying a celeb wedding is a great source of style inspiration if you’ve got any weddings coming up.

To save you trawling through the many photo galleries, we’ve picked the cream of the crop of stylish men who attended the royal wedding. And we’ve thrown Jamie Hince and Kate Moss’ wedding in there too because, well, he looked great.

Here are three celeb-approved looks to inspire your own big day style.

GREY AND BLUE LOUNGE SUITS

A ‘lounge’ suit is another name for any suit that’s not traditional tails or a tuxedo. It gets its name from its origins in nineteenth-century menswear, where lounge suits were the off-duty alternative to the day’s formal dresswear. Now, they’re the tailored norm for any occasion that demands you dress smartly. Which brings us neatly to weddings, where a lounge suit is reliably smart, elegant and ticks the formal dress code, but also leaves plenty of room for personality.

This year’s best wedding lounge suits come in shades of grey and blue. To steer clear of officewear, go for light, soft shades and add in colour with your accessories. See George Clooney in his soft grey two-piece. Its one-button fastening is sophisticated in its simplicity, while peak lapels and a pastel-toned shirt and accessories take it firmly into special occasion territory.

Looking to make more of a statement? See Jamie Hince when he married Kate Moss in a powder-blue double-breasted lounge suit. While a double-breasted is a big statement to make, a light blue suit is a wearable but stylish alternative to the usual mid-blue as both guest and groom. It’s surprisingly flattering on most men, particularly when combined with a clean, tailored fit, and it’ll lend itself to lots of different wedding styles.

MORNINGWEAR AND TAILS

So named because this type of tailoring was traditionally only worn at daytime events (with evenings having their own dress code), morningwear is now typically reserved for more formal weddings or society occasions like Royal Ascot. If it’s your own wedding and you’re thinking about setting a more formal dress code, morningwear really does make for fantastic photos and nothing else adds quite the same feeling of ceremony. If you’re a guest, it’s likely you’ve been requested to wear a morning suit or tails, but we encourage you to embrace it.

Although it wasn’t insisted on at Harry’s wedding, many guests like James Corden, Marcus Mumford and David Beckham plumped for traditional morningwear. And it’s not just for royal weddings – as more and more of us are dressing more casually in our day-to-day, lots of men are relishing the opportunity to get properly dressed up again.

The key to wearing morningwear is keeping it simple – you’re going for timeless elegance. That’s not to say you can’t play with the fairly strict rules a little. A light grey tie is the traditional partner to a dark morning coat and grey striped trousers, but you’ll see both James and David above have gone with a darker tie instead. Whichever you choose, make sure it’s tied tightly in a classic four-in-hand knot. And while we’re talking about David, let’s not leave out a mention of his waistcoat. Again, tradition says your waistcoat should be cream or grey, but David dialled up the drama with a double-breasted style. The DB suit is enjoying a comeback at the moment, and David’s seal of approval means the DB waistcoat is destined for big things at British weddings this year. We advise you follow suit.

DARK BLUE AND BLACK

And finally, a spot for classic dark suits. While a lighter suit is the more popular choice for weddings, there’s something understatedly cool about a darker suit. You wouldn’t see James Bond in a pastel two-piece, would you?

Make sure you keep the look firmly out-of-office by paying attention to the fabric. Steer clear of shiny man-made fabrics and go for a wool-blend or pure wool cloth instead. You’re going to want to add in some detail or colour, even if it’s just a little, to keep the look wedding-appropriate. Argentine polo player Nacho Figueras chose a deep, dark navy suit for the royal wedding but added a feel of occasion by pairing an impeccably tailored double-breasted jacket with a pristine blue shirt with contrast white collar.

Or throw all that out the window and go full monochrome like Idris Elba. It might not be the done thing for weddings, but if you’ve got the confidence of Idris then quite honestly you can wear whatever you want and still look sharp. There are some subtle details that lift his look from funeral wear though – note the addition of a waistcoat, powerfully sharp peak lapels and a clean, slim fit.